To shed light on the investigation following the discovery of Emile’s bones in the village of Haut-Vernet, W9 has chosen to devote a special issue of Criminal Investigations to this affair which shocked France. Broadcast this Wednesday, April 3, the program gave the floor to investigators but also to a resident of Haut-Vernet who put forward a particularly disturbing hypothesis…
Since the macabre discovery of Emile’s bones, tension has been at its height in the village of Haut-Vernet. Dozens of gendarmes patrol the area of this now infamous commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. It is in fact there that the little 2 and a half year old boy escaped the vigilance of his grandparents, on July 8, 2023, and it is also there that a hiker found the little boy’s skull in a steep area, this Saturday March 30.
A seemingly uneventful village
Until Emile’s death in July 2023, Haut-Vernet was a peaceful commune. Crossed by a single road and made up of around twenty houses not far from a small church, it is a village where “ everyone knows everyone and knows everything about everyone » explains Gilles Thezan, resident of Haut-Vernet.
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In particular, he knows Emile’s family well, who has a second home in the village. “ The family bought this house around twenty years ago. They are discreet people who don’t make waves. I often see them passing by in their vehicle. They live their lives. » confides Gilles Thezan on W9.
A dead end that sows doubt
The last time Emile was seen was near a wash house at the end of the only road that crosses the village. “This road ends in a dead end and to get out, you have to turn around. We have to do several maneuvers in front of all the houses. So everyone sees what’s happening. Everyone knows each other and no one saw anything? ” asks this resident of Haut-Vernet. “If he was kidnapped, the answer to this mystery lies within the village ” continues Gilles Thezan in the W9 documentaryCriminal Investigations.
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If the accidental hypothesis remains the most probable theory according to the investigators, Charlotte Durand, the journalist who produced this documentary on the case, does not exclude a criminal hypothesis. “This is the route favored by the residents. They have searched everything so much that they cannot accept that they have missed little Emile ” explains the investigating journalist. Other elements also seem to confirm the criminal hypothesis, according to the journalist. ” The child’s skull was found during the Easter weekend, it was perhaps placed there symbolically, to evoke the resurrection (…) I also find it strange that this skull was found a few days after the reconstruction of Emile’s disappearance which had been carried out for the purposes of the investigation.” underlines Charlotte Durand.
News journalist
A true jack-of-all-trades, passionate about travel, culture, society, people and beauty, Saliha writes for different media such as Escapade magazine, the GEOguide collection by Gallimard, Le Figaro…